Railway signal mechanism



(No Model.)

8 T.- E. HILL. RAILWAY SIGNAL MECHANISM.

Patented Apr. 12, 1892.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. HILL, OF RAHvVAY, AS SIGNOR OF ONE-HALE TO WILLIAM T.BOTHWELL, OF JERSEY CITY, NEWV JERSEY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION.forming part of Letters Patent No.4'72,808, dated April12, 1892.

Application filed July 1'7 1891.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS ENGLISH HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rahway, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for OperatingRailway-Signals and Connections for Draw- Bridges; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in devices to be carried by alocomotive and operate in conjunction with the line-pipe or supply-pipeof a fluid-pressure or air-brake system to exhaust the air or fluid andapply the brakes.

The invention further relates to devices adapted to be placed inconnection with a railway, and serve, in conjunction with a drawbridgeor the like, to bring into operation the devices carried by a locomotivewhereby the movements of atrain may be lessened and the brakes appliedto stop the same.

The invention has for its object, among other things,. to provide suchdevices of the character above mentioned which will be durable and notliable to get out of order and which will be always ready for operationregardless of the attention which may be given by the engineer, therebyrendering such devices automatic in their operation and positive intheir action. i

The invention will be fully understood from the following descriptionand claims, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a locomotive, showing myimprovements applied, with some of the parts in section and some brokenaway. Fig. 2 is a front view of the improvements, showing one of thewheels of the locomotive, and also the attachments in connection withone of the rails of a track; and Fig. 3 is a detail view of theverticallymovable rod G, with its spring and attachments. 1

Referring by letter to said drawings, A indicates a line-pipe leadingfrom the cab of the locomotive, and which may be the line-pipe SerialNo. 399,869. (No model.)

or supply-pipe as used on the well -known fluid-pressure or air-brakesystem. This pipe I have shown as provided with a valve a, and leadingfrom said valve a rod or stem 1), which is in turn connected with avertically-dis- D indicates a pipe tapping the pipe A. v

This pipe is here shown as vertically disposed, and pivotally connectedtherewith at one end is an arm F for a purpose which will be presentlyexplained.

G indicates a vertically-movable rod or post. This post carries at itslower end a frictionroller (1, and its upper end is provided with avertical socket q and an. external flange or shoulder 0, which latter isdesigned to bear upon a brace or bearing f, which is suitably arrangedin a horizontal position at a convenient point, and through which bracethe post G passes and is limited thereby in its downward movements.

R indicates a vertical rod, which is seated in the socket of the post Gand is connected in a hinged or pivoted manner, as shown at g, with theouter end of the lever E, which lever, as before described, is pivotedat its opposite end to the upper end of the pipe D or to any othersuitable support.

9 indicates a spiral spring, which surrounds the exposed portion of theVertical rod R and is confined thereon between the upper end of thepostor rod G and the outer pivotally-connected end of the lever F for apurpose which will presently appear.

H indicates a tube of glass or other fragile material, which is designedto form a cap for the outlet or free end of the pipe'D, which connectswith the air or fluid pipe A. This glass tube H is arranged in a planeabove the arm'F and in close relation thereto, so that any upwardmovement of the vertical rod G, and consequently the rod B, would causesaid arm to crush the glass tube, so as toexhaust the air or fluid andapply the brakes. This glass tube may be connected in any suitablemanner with the pipe D, and in the present illustration I have shownsaid tube connected with the pipe by means of a lateral branch h, abranch 2', leading from one end of the branch h and at right anglesthereto, and a short depending branch 70, with suitable elbowsconnecting said parts, although I do not wish to confine myself to suchconstruction, as it is obvious that the arrangements may be varied so asto have the glass tapping-tube for a pipe tapping the line-pipe soarranged that it will be crushed or broken by a lever or arm connectedwith the Vertically-movable rod R. It will be readily seen that anengine thus equipped may serve to apply the brakes of an air-brakesystem by having the frictionroller of the vertically-movable rod engageor contact with elevations arranged along the track, and such equipmentswill be found very effective in applying the brakes in such cases as anapproach to an open draw of a })ridge, the misplacement of a switch, orthe ike.

It will be observed that I have illustrated a cable which is designed toconnect with a mechanism of a draw-bridge and lead to ele Vationsarranged on the roadway at a suitable point from the entrance to thebridge. These elevations, as better shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, maycomprise a bar I, which is hinged or pivoted at one end to a bracket L,arranged on one of the cross-ties, and its 0pposite end is connectedwith a cable, as shown at M, a suitable guide-pulley N being arrangedbeneath the level of the track to guide the cable P. This bar I israised, when the cable has been slackened, by means of a spring Q, whichbears against the under side of said bar, and its opposite ends areseated in sock ets m. 'It is obvious, however, that any form of springmight be used, as it is simply necessary to provide such yieldingdevices as will elevate the bar I when the cable P has been slackened,as caused by the opening of a draw, and allow said bar to be depressedto the level of the tracker slightly below the same when the cable hasbeen drawn, such as caused by the closing of the draw. It is alsoobvious that the cable might be carried to signal devices of anysuitable character, and in some cases may be connected with switches, sothat the train can be stopped in its approach to a misplaced switch.

In the illustration of thy-invention I have represented the elevation onthe outer side of the track-rails, and I prefer to have it arranged inthat position, although, if desirable, it may be placed between therails.

In operation it will be seen that as a train approaches a draw-bridge orother point of danger and the elevations are raised to indicate thatsuch draw has been opened the roller 61, contacting with the elevations,will be raised so as to raise vertically the rod or post G, and this inturn, raising the rod R, will force the lever F against the glass cap H,so as to crush the same and exhaust the air or fluid which was heldtherein under pressure, thus exhausting the air from the line-pipe andapplying the brakes. It is obvious that a cock should be employed forcut-ting 0d the exhaust after the brakes have been applied and untilanother cap of glass has been replaced. The spring 9 will aid indepressing the rod or post G, and also assist in raising the rod R, andconsequently the lever F, so as to assist in the coaction of the parts.

Having described my invention, what I claim is l 1. The combination,with a line-pipe or sup ply-pipe of an air-brake system, of the verticalpipe tapping the same, the horizontallyarranged glass tube, the branchpipes connecting the said tube with the pipe tapping the supply-pipe,the pivoted lever vertically movable below the glass tube, theverticallymovable rod carrying a friction-roller at its lower end andhaving a socket at its upper end, the rod arranged in said socket andconnected with one end of said pivoted lever, and a spring surroundingsaid rod above the socket and below the lever, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination, with the supply-pipe of an air-brake system, of apipe tapping said supply-pipe, a cap of glass or fragile materialsealing or closing said tapping-pipe, a pivoted lever movable in a planebelow the glass cap and capable of crushing the same,- avertically-movable rod carrying a friction-roller to contact withelevations along the track, and a rod bearing in said rod carrying theroller and connected with one end of the le ver for crushing the glasscap, substantially as specified. r

3. The combination, with asupply-pipe of an air-brake system, of a pipeleading therefrom and having a cap of glass or other fragile material,the lever pivoted below said glass cap and adapted to crush the same,the vertically-movable rod arranged in the bearing and having asocket atits upper end, and also an external shoulder or stop, and afriction-roller at its lower end, the rod arranged in the socket of saidvertically-movable rod or socket-rod and pivotally connected at itsupper end with one end of the lever, and a spring surrounding the latterrod and bearing at one end upon the socket-rod and its opposite endbearing upwardly against the outer end of the lever, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof I affix inysignature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS E. HILL. Witnesses:

WAM. H. LITTLE,

WILLIAM H. FREEMAN.

